


Black Stripes

by SeleneLawfulGood



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Trans Female Character, Unrequited Crush, Unrequited Love, Useless Lesbian Weiss Schnee, Useless Lesbians, Weiss Schnee is a Faunus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-01 07:15:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18795526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeleneLawfulGood/pseuds/SeleneLawfulGood
Summary: Five years ago, the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company disappeared without a trace.Five years ago, a young faunus girl found the family she had always longed for.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So, another one.
> 
> This one has two chapters and a half written right now (if we count this one), and I also know where I'm going better than with Snowstorm, so there'll probably be more frequent updates.
> 
> That said, I hope you'll enjoy this!

I let go of my ponytail as I ran and threw the tiara away with as much strength as I could muster.

I ran as fast and far as I could.

I didn’t dare look back.

I couldn’t afford it.

I could hear their steps and their voices drawing nearer.

The tail wrapped itself around my left thigh and I hid behind a tree, hugging myself to make myself as small as I could; I could almost disguise myself between the snow that way.

One of the men passed through my left without noticing me, before running further in that direction.

“Ms. Schnee!, Ms. Schnee you need to come back!”

I didn’t say anything nor did I move. After a few seconds I could no longer see him, and his voice was far enough that I couldn’t understand it.

Only then, I looked around me again, stood up, and kept running to the direction with the least noise.

And kept running, the men’s voices farther and farther until they eventually disappeared.

I kept running, until my whole body hurt and I felt my lungs burn.

I tripped on a branch I hadn’t seen and slammed onto another tree.

I could only barely keep the pained scream inside, to avoid giving away where I was.

Soon I started feeling the taste of copper inside my mouth as I gasped for breath, and my heart hammering in my chest like it was going to explode, the consequences of running for so long with my lack of exercise finally catching up to me.

How long had it been since I ran anyway?

Maybe… maybe father wasn’t angry anymore.

Maybe I could go back.

Maybe…

_I stumbled to the ground, rubbing the cheek where father had slapped me._

_Father’s expression scrounged up in anger and disgust as he turned around towards the closet behind him, and grabbed the sword he always kept in his office._

No, I couldn’t.

I shouldn’t even have considered the possibility.

_“An animal like you is no daughter of mine”_

_When father turned back to look at me, his face showed no emotions, a perfectly calm mask._

_I could still see it beneath his eyes._

_“Better take care of the problem now”_

Winter wasn’t at home, hadn’t been for months; Whitley was too young and scared of father to do anything, and I could bet mother wasn’t sober enough to notice anything had even happened.

I had to get up and continue, before they could find me and bring me back to him.

_He lifted his sword arm._

I needed to keep going.

I tried to stand up to no avail, as my face hit the snow again.

_I scrambled to my feet and shoved the door off its hinges with a glyph._

_I ran._

I couldn’t stay here no matter what

I had to go, I had to…

I froze.

Slow but steady steps moved through the snow.

_Nonononono_

I tried to get up with all of my willpower, and I actually managed this time.

The steps came closer.

I tried to start running again, only to stumble onto the snow again when I found out that my left leg hurt _a lot_.

I also came only a little short of a scream of pain when I fell.

The person started running. They were almost behind me.

I curled into a ball on the ground as tears started falling.

_I don’t want to die._

The steps reached me, then whoever they belonged to stopped suddenly, their voice making a surprised gasp.

A _female_ voice, and none of father’s security employees was a woman.

I opened my eyes and slowly turned to where I though the voice had come from.

I had to blink back the tears before I could see clearly, but when I did it was clear that she was a girl, a blue haired girl to be more specific, with blue eyes so bright they were almost white.

And _dog ears_.

I wasn’t able to stop a giggle from exiting my mouth, which ended up becoming full-blown laughter.

It transitioned into more crying in a just few seconds.

I could see the look of absolute confusion in the faunus girl’s face as she eyed me up. Then, her gaze settled on my legs, and her eyes shot wide open when they reached the tail still curled around my thigh.

“She’s a…”

_A monster, an animal, say it_

She closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head. She looked hesitant for a moment, but offered me a hand.

I wiped the tears from my face and stared at her.

“C’mon, you can’t stay there in the snow all day, you’ll get a cold or something.

I couldn’t help but blurt out a laugh.

A faunus was offering me, _a Schnee_ , help.

_Let her, you need to get out of here_

I shakily raised my right hand and grabbed hers. She immediately lifted me up with a strength I wouldn’t have assumed of her given her size (and that she looked my age) and brought me to my feet. I could only barely stand it seemed, as I almost fell again immediately, only saved by the girl’s quick reflexes.

Trying to ditch her and run was out then.

She gave me a concerned look.

“Can you walk?”

With her help, sure.

I gave a small nod.

She put my left hand across her shoulders and started walking to wherever.

I could only hope we didn’t come across father’s goons.

 

* * *

 

 

The trip was slow and quiet, very quiet.

The forest was completely silent.

Neither the faunus girl nor I were saying anything.

It looked to me like we were just wandering around, at least until I started making out the shape of a – I assumed – wooden house in the distance.

I sighed with relief, I was safe.

_For now, they will find you_

After a few more minutes, we finally arrived. She carefully dropped me on the stairs of the porch, letting me sit as comfortably as I could. Then, she shook the snow off of her coat with one hand and lifted a _very_ sharp axe that I hadn’t noticed she was carrying to her shoulder.

“Wait here, please” she said, softly

She approached the door, and put her hand on the handle.

“Why?”

I hadn’t realized these words had come out of my mouth until they had been said. She turned around, an unreadable look on her face.

I gulped. I guessed I should continue.

“Why did you help me?” I would have grabbed one of my arms if everything didn’t hurt so much “you know who I am, right?”

She nodded slowly.

“Then why?”

She looked down for a moment, then at me again, a small smile grazing her lips.

“We have to look after our own”

She opened the door without another word and walked in, closing it behind her.

I was left there, alone.

_But I’m not_

_I’m just an anomaly, a mistake, a monster, I don’t deserve your help_

My ears perked up as a conversation began inside. I concentrated on that.

“… llo mom”

“Azura?” soft metal hitting harder metal, probably a just spoon and something else “back so soon?, did you get the wood?”

“I couldn’t, sorry mom” metal on wood, the axe? “there was… I found someone out there, on the snow”

Silence, then steps “were they alive?” a worried tone in her voice

“Yes, thank the gods, but she’s hurt I think?, she couldn’t even stand up without my help”

_And what a pathetic image that was_ , I thought.

“Well then, where is she?”

“I left her sitting on the porch, but I need to tell you something first”

“What is it dear?, is she a criminal?” those last words were practically a whisper

“No, she’s pretty legal, that’s not the issue, it’s that…”

More words were said, but they had to be speaking in another language because I didn’t understand a single one, though I did make up that dust damned worried motherly tone that I envied more the more I heard it. There was a surprised gasp akin to the gir-Azura’s after a few seconds, and quick steps to the door.

I momentarily panicked, trying to scramble up to my feet but falling flat on my butt, only managing not to fall to the snow again by grabbing onto the bars of the stairs next to me.

I had though she wanted… that she was… I don’t know.

It was a little stupid, thinking about it clearly.

The door opened, and I found myself staring at what was basically an older version of Azura, with much longer (and a little darker) hair, a long dress and an apron. The only thing she lacked were her daughter’s extra ears.

She eyed me for a second, before her features softened and she quickly went to help me up.

“Let’s get inside, this weather isn’t good for anyone” we did so, and she closed the door behind us “Azura, watch over the food!, we don’t want it to burn”

“Okay mom” I saw her moving to the kitchen

Taking a look at it, the brown – and indeed wooden – house looked quite comfy, even if it wasn’t even a half a quarter as big as the mansion: It had a kitchen with a table on the left side, and a TV with a pair of medium-sized couches on the right side, the door almost exactly in the middle of the two.

Facing said door, there was a set of stairs that twisted to the left and led up into darkness.

Ominous, and a little creepy.

(but still safer than my home, apparently)

The woman led me to one of the couches and carefully helped me sit there, then sat on the remaining couch, looking right at me.

I let out a soft yelp as the tail’s hold over my thigh strengthened and went further up, almost invisible under my skirt now.

She spoke first.

“Could you tell me what happened?”

Straight to the point.

Could I?

Would she send me back if I did?

She seemed nice enough.

_She’s a faunus, she probably hates father, and me by association._

But… she and her daughter knew who I was, and Azura hadn’t just sent me back when she found me.

Or killed me, and she could have done it very easily with that axe she had.

They’d done nothing but help me.

I didn’t know what to do.

“I know how you’re feeling, but don’t worry, you’re safe here”

I hesitated.

_They won’t hurt you for this, they’re faunus_

I…

_You need their help_

I let go of a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

And I spoke.


	2. Chapter 1

The ringing of the alarm woke me up like a hammer to the face.

I sluggishly moved my hand to pick up my scroll and managed to turn the damn thing off before my ears exploded.

My eyes opened lazily, watching the dawn sunlight enter through the window. I rubbed them with both of my hands and reached for my scroll again before standing up _very_ slowly, and yawning too loud for my comfort.

I decided to get off from my bed before I could fall asleep again…

…and subsequently tripped on my own tail, falling face first to the floor with a yell and a loud ‘thud’ that I was sure even the neighbors would have heard, had we had any.

I groaned as I stood up again, now completely awake.

A shout came through the hall “ _you okay there?”_

“ _Yeah, don’t worry, I just tripped again!”_ I shouted back

I was almost angry for a moment at her very loud snort, but I didn’t have the energy to be, and specially not at her. I just gave a sigh, picked up my combat clothes and moved myself to the bathroom to relive the usual routine: take a shower, reapply the blue dye (because it looked cool as hell and it was starting to wear off), dry myself, brush my hair and the fur of my tail _and_ style the former in its usual short ponytail, dress up, and get out.

Azura was waiting just outside the door, pointing at the spot where she would usually keep her watch. I just stuck out my tongue, bringing a soft snort out of her, and we both went our respective ways.

I couldn’t see mom neither at the kitchen nor the sofa. Then the door opened, and she came in, a small smile on her face upon seeing me.

“ _Good morning, did you sleep well?”_

“ _I did, yeah, until the dust-damned alarm rang_ ”

She let out a small laugh as she closed the door and took off her coat.

“ _Well, I’m sorry, but you needed it if you don’t want to be late for the airship!_ ” a sudden increase of volume that I guessed was directed at my sister, who by the way was still in the bathroom.

I sighed.

“ _Yeah, yeah, I know, I’m just…_ ”

Nervous and afraid that I’d be living with people I didn’t know for the next four years of my life?, sad that I’d be leaving the place that had been a loving home for me the past five years?, already missing the woman who had been a far better mom than my biological mother ever was?

Yeah, kind of all of them.

She caught up on my feelings like she always did, and gave me a brief but warm hug.

“ _It will be fine, really, I know Beacon is a really good academy and as far as I know the headmaster is very understanding. You also won’t be as constricted as you’d be in Atlas’, not to mention they’d treat you and your sister better than here_ ”

That going to Beacon would also keep _him_ further away from ever finding out that I was still alive was left unsaid.

I gave her another hug in return, longer this time.

“ _I’ll miss you mom_ ”

She softly ruffled her hand through my hair.

“ _Hey, it’s not like we won’t be able to see each other, we have our scrolls, and Azura_ is _going with you_ ”

I broke off the hug, a bit hesitant, and made my way to the kitchen with some of the bags (which by the way were pretty damn heavy).

“ _I know, and I love her too. She’s like, the best sister I could have ever asked for, but…”_ I stopped as I left the bags on the counter, my mind going to the only member of that family worth a damn before wiping out the though, and turned around with my back resting there “ _but you’re my mom_ ”

I could almost feel tears forming in my eyes, like so many years before, when they had accepted me as their family with no reservations.

_Damnit, don’t cry now, it’s not the moment_

Mom approached me again with the rest of her bags and kissed my forehead.

“ _You will be okay, Weiss, I know it_ ”

I only barely kept the dam from breaking, with her gesture and by hearing my name for what would most likely be the last time in years.

“ _Thank you_ ”

“ _Don’t even mention it, it’s my job after all_ ” with a warm smile, she gave me one last one-armed squeeze and went to unpack the bags she had brought.

I turned away again, looking for the stuff to make a quick breakfast (we didn’t have that much time after all, and I still had to grab my weapon and pack up some more stuff). I heard Azura’s steps down the stairs and her starting a conversation with mom, that I willfully tuned out because I didn’t want to distract myself from the food.

She quickly finished talking and came alongside me. We ate quickly, finishing and washing the dishes at almost the same time, and went back to our rooms to finish packing. By the time we were back down mom was understandably a bit nervous, it was 8:04 and the transport took off at 45.

We quickly scrambled out of the house, repeatedly checking that we had everything we needed, and entered the car.

I got a little more sleep, but we arrived to the airfield quickly and even with some time to spare, so it wasn’t really that much. It was also still fascinating to me that we were so close to the actual capital of the kingdom even though we literally lived in the middle of a forest.

Azura and I got our bags and put our weapons in their holsters (mostly just to show off a little), before mom grabbed us into one last quick bone-breaking group hug, pulling us close so that no-one else would see or hear her speak.

I had forgotten just how strong she was, _ow._

“ _I’m so proud of both of you, you’re going to do great_ ”

I saw some tears escape the corners of her eyes, but she managed to contain herself. She gave us each a kiss on the forehead, and let us go with a bright smile on her face.

I enthusiastically waved back, my eyes watery again, before turning back and running to catch up to my sister inside the vehicle.

It was a little cramped, and certainly more than a little uncomfortable _especially_ if I wanted my tail to not hurt after the trip, but it wasn’t horrible for a vehicle that was to bear that many people.

At least we had got there before the seats were all taken.

Azura nudged my shoulder, making me look away of the window and back to her, a worried look on her eyes.

“ _You okay?_ ”

I sighed “ _I think, yeah. It’s just… I already miss home_ ” then looked down and started stroking my tail “ _and I think my social skills are more than a little rusty after barely leaving it in years_ ”

She actually snorted again, the jerk! “ _they work well enough with me and mom, don’t they?_ ”

“ _Well, yeah!, but that’s because I know you and I know I can trust you_ ”

“ _Excuses, excuses. It’s just talking, you’re good at it, you won’t fuck it up_ ”

I just shrugged, we’d had this kind of conversation a few times already, and while I appreciated her bluntness, I wished she could be a little softer.

“ _If you say so_ ” I picked up my scroll, to pass the time until this thing took off, before remembering something “ _hey, did you bring y-_ ”

“Will you animals stop barking and start speaking like people!?” a voice shouted from a few seats to our right “seriously you’re giving us all a headache!”

There were some snickers along with that voice.

I barely had time to even think when I saw Azura already moving towards him, practically stomping on the floor of the ship. Even if her face hadn’t changed, the anger was palpable; I wanted to get up and do something too, but my legs didn’t want to move.

My tail curled against my left thigh.

_Animals_

I felt a chill, just for a moment.

I needed to focus on literally anything else.

So I did it on his appearance.

From what I could see, he was the typical atlesian rich brat: well maintained (brown) hair, likely very expensive clothes, and a smug smile that in most circumstances would make people want to punch him.

I didn’t even see a weapon on him.

My sister had finished stomping her way to the boy, but he still looked at her the exact same way he’d had before.

_Does he lack a survival instinct?_

They just stared each other down for a few seconds, her very light blue and _very_ cold gaze against his stupid smug smirk.

Then the idiot spoke, with a condescending tone that _definitely_ made me want to punch him.

“What, too scared to talk to your betters?, or did your owner not give you permission to spe-” the noise of Azura’s hand slamming _hard_ on the wall behind him interrupted him mid-sentence, as he looked at it and realized that he wasn’t in control of the situation.

Meanwhile, she just kept staring at him, not moving an inch.

Had I been nearer I could have probably seen him sweating (instead, I just had to imagine it). I _did_ see him squirm a little in his seat though, seemingly trying to move away from her.

Then, she started tapping the wall with the same hand's index finger, like she was waiting for something. The boy seemed to get the message she was transmitting, and hastily mumbled an apology that I really doubted he meant. No one else said anything.

Azura smirked, and slowly retracted her hand away from the wall before walking back to me and sitting again. Though the smirk vanished from her face the moment she saw my face, replaced by worry.

“ _Are you ok?_ ”

I nodded “ _just… some bad memories_ ”

“ _Sis, you know I’m here if you wanna talk about it, right?_ ”

“ _Yeah, I do, it’s just… not that bad?_ ” a small smile found its way onto my face “ _really though, thanks, but it really doesn’t bother me that much_ ”

The smirk returned, and she answered “ _okay, if you say so_ ” parroting my own retort back to me. I rolled my eyes at her, feeling a little better.

We stayed silent after that, her picking up that book that I was about to ask if she had remembered to bring before the asshole interrupted us, and me with my scroll again looking for something to watch or read.

In just a couple of minutes, the doors finally closed and we took off. I looked through the window at my left and caught mom looking at us with a sad smile on her face (or well, at the vehicle, because she wouldn’t be able to see us through the tinted windows, but still). I turned back and sighed; I would had waved, but I knew she couldn’t see us through her side, and the gesture wouldn’t be as comforting that way.

I turned back to my scroll again, when I heard steps coming our way.

My first thought was that the boy wanted to get the last laugh or something like that, stupid as it might be.

Instead, there was a faunus girl with long straight grey hair, bright green eyes and a long white horn on her forehead, just standing there timidly looking at us. She straightened and glanced down the moment she realized I was looking at her, fidgeting in her spot.

She audibly gulped, before looking back at me, still nervous.

“C-could I sit with you?”

Only then did Azura notice her, before going back to her book with no words.

“Yeah, sure, we don’t mind” I answered, hoping that my smile would soothe her nerves.

And it seemingly worked, since she nodded, smiled and sat on the free spot just left of my sister.

We stayed in silence again for a while after that, just doing what we had been doing.

“I-I… I wanted to tell you that you were really cool before” both of us looked at the girl again, though I knew she was only referring to my sister “like, with that guy, it was awesome!” she seemed to get more confident the more she spoke.

In an honestly adorable gesture, Azura pointed to herself in confusion, to which the girl excitedly nodded. A slight blush formed on the former’s face as she rubbed the back of her head with one hand.

“Oh, it was nothing, really, I just got pissed off. Besides, ‘s just words and more words, it’s the only thing these assholes know how to do”

“W-well, I think, it was really cool, and you shouldn’t downplay it” her smile turned sad and she looked away “it’s not common that anyone stands up against that kind of people here, even between us faunus, and it’s really great that you did”

I could see the look on my sister’s face change momentarily to one of anger, before disappearing. The girl looked back to us, her excited look already back, and shakily raised a hand in greeting.

“A-anyways, my name is Silvia, nice to meet you!” the gesture brought back a smile to my face.

Azura took her hand and shook it with more restraint that she usually showed, also smiling a little “nice to meet you too, name’s Azura” she pointed at me with her thumb “and she’s my sister Bianca”

I waved at her, almost unconsciously uncoiling my tail from its previous spot “nice to meet you too!”

The girl apparently named Silvia looked happy, with a hint of nervousness, as if she didn’t know how to continue the conversation, before a look of realization hit her face.

“Oh, I-I just remembered, you were speaking in you-our language before, right?, I mean, it was why that… guy yelled at you”

Azura’s face darkened almost immediately; just a little, but enough to be noticeable. It was easy to see what she had assumed.

Silvia did notice, as she put her hands in front of her as to protect herself “I-I don’t have anything against that!, I-I mean… could you teach me?”

Then my sister’s face went back to normal with a hint of surprise into the mix.

“I-it’s just… I’ve never had a chance to learn it because I’m adopted and both of my parents are human, b-but I’ve always wanted to…”

She didn’t say anything. I could tell she wanted to say yes, to teach her like she had taught me, but she was hesitating because the girl wasn’t family like I had become by that point.

I reassuringly put a hand on her shoulder, making her look back to me.

“ _If you want to help her you can just do it, don’t worry, really, I can tell she’s a nice girl_ ” I saw Silvia perk up at the sound of the words.

Azura looked torn for a few seconds, then sighed, and turned back to the horned girl.

“If that’s fine with you, I guess I can”

Silvia beamed and _okay she’s seriously adorable_ “t-thank you so much, I hope we end up on the same team!” she blushed in embarrassment when she realized what she had just said, but my sister just gave her a smirk accompanied by a thumbs up.

The trip was particularly uneventful after that. Azura and Silvia spent the time talking (or well, more like ‘Silvia talked while Azura grunted and maybe chimed in once or twice’), while I just listened to music on my scroll with my earphones on.

Eventually though, I started feeling sleepy again and decided to close it and put it back in my pocket, and get as comfortable as I could to try and get some more rest.

I was soon asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A longer one for the first actual chapter.
> 
> I know skipped over her life with her new family for now bUT I'm going to cover it in the future, for now I just wanted the story to properly start.
> 
> Also more OCs!


End file.
